Saturday, February 27, 2010

Tom Harkin and other proponents of central planning were the wrong people to be asking the question, "What do you have?" leading up to the recent, so-called health summit. As the below video of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez demonstrates, central planning can't even keep the lights on for the top thug in that once-prosperous country. (Video with English commentary can be found here.)

And if Chavez, sitting atop vast petroleum and hydroelectric resources, can't even keep the lights on, how will Barack Obama keep us healthy?

The state is not omnipotent, and initiating force against others not only produces nothing, it hinders those who can produce when not repeatedly robbed and bossed around by thugs.

Any question by a central planner to the effect that you need state planning to produce anything is a bluff designed to distract from the fact that his own answer to "What have you got?" is "Only what I can steal from someone else."

This is why "soft" fascism always turns into hard fascism. Socialism of any stripe doesn't work. When it doesn't work then it is politically necessary to look for scapegoats. The more it doesn't work the harsher the penalties have to be. And plausibility of saboteurs being the problem can be completely transparent yet it doesn't matter. For crying out loud even the AP said he presented no evidence. But that never matters.

C. Andrew

PS. You still have to love the AP reporter's name!CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER From Associated PressFebruary 21, 2010 11:51 PM EST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez accused his adversaries on Sunday of sabotaging Venezuela's electricity grid as part of a broader plan aimed at bringing about the system's collapse — and his downfall.Chavez said authorities must be "on the alert" and apprehend anyone who cuts electricity cables connected to the grid. Such sabotage has caused power failures in some regions and exacerbated the effects of severe energy shortages, he said."Be on the lookout! Patrols must be carried out to capture the saboteurs because those responsible must be caught and put in prison," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio program, "Hello President."

Referring to his government's adversaries, he said: "They think that's how they're going to topple Chavez, and that's what they're seeking, but if there's an electricity collapse, it won't be Chavez who is going to fall. Prepare yourselves, bourgeois folks, because it will be you who will fall."The accusations were vague and Chavez provided no evidence supporting them.